Just a reminder, for those of your who have been waiting for information on the Support A Soldier Program, we have a new contact for this fall stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan. Please email me directly for the contact name and address. Instructions for shipping are below.

Make sure to mark on the label what type of box it is and if it intended for a male or female if applicable.

What to Send: Always include personal cards and banners showing your thanks and support. Regardless of what else is in the box, these are the items the soldiers treasure the most. I have been told that pictures of the girls are especially appreciated as they can see who is sending them the package. You can also have the girls design banners and other artwork that can be hung on the walls of the tents or common areas. Bright, colorful, happy images are best.

The easiest way to ship packages is to use the flat rate Priority Mail boxes available at the post office. This way you always know what the shipping is regardless of how much you can pack in the box. There is a discount for shipping to APO/FPO addresses. If you are not sure what items to send, we have listed several ideas below.

Requested Items: For items, our team would appreciate some healthy foods. This list is kind of long so please feel free to send some here and there:

1. Only postive messages are allowed to be placed in the boxes. All letters and cards must be loose or in unsealed envelopes and leaders must read all letters that go in their box to make sure there is nothing hateful or negative. This includes any negative religious messages such as telling the soldiers that unless they recieve Jesus, they will go to hell. Even if this is your belief, and you mean well, it is a disturbing message for men and women who face death every day and they do not need the extra stress. Absolutely no messages disrespecting other religions will be tolerated. Messages such as “God Loves You” or “We are praying for you” are acceptable.

2. No chocolate or soft baked good that can spoil such as muffins should be sent after March 30 as it is the hot season and they will melt or mold.

3. If you send “cool ties” for the soldiers to wear, make sure they are 100% cotton fabric and are in camoflauge colors as otherwise they cannot wear them on patrol. (These are the polymer filled ties that get soaked in water and tied around your neck. You can also make them as small flat circles that can fit inside a helmet). Directions for making cool ties can be found here: http://www.watersorb.com/polymer_cool_neck_bands.htm

4. Most Army bases in Iraq and Afghanistan now have well-stocked provisions at the AAFES stores. The following items are easily obtained, so send only if a favorite brand is unavailable:

Cookies, candies, snack foods and beverages

Toiletries & personal hygiene products

Small electrical appliances

Personal electronic products and batteries

CDs, DVDs, magazines, books

5. Please do NOT send the following items to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. Packages are scanned and these items WILL be confiscated:

Hazardous, flammable, toxic and radioactive substancesTip: Don’t use packing boxes that are labelled with a prohibited substance.

6. Use common sense and realize that packages can be subjected to high heat and bouncing around. Use Ziploc bags and lots of padding where applicable. If there is any chance that it might leak, put it in a ziplock bag! (two is even better!)

Thank you so much for showing your support for our soldiers and participating in this program.
Sincerely,
Kerry Cordy Frontier Girls Clubs www.frontiergirlsclubs.com

I was recently introduced to a new website called Pinterest. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is like a giant online bulletin board of fun projects and activities. You start your own board and then “pin” links to websites that interest you. I recently started a Pinterest Account for Frontier Girls projects and plan to have boards for each of the Areas of Discovery as well as boards for topics like Patriotism, Troop Resources, Fundraising, and SWAPS. On each board will be pictures of projects that you might wish to use in your Frontier Girls journey. When you click on them, you will be taken to the website that has instructions for the project. Please remember that these sites are NOT part of Frontier Girls and we cannot guarantee their content, so please surf responsibly. As our troops and members send me great websites, I will make sure to pin these to my boards as well. If you have a Pinterest board of your own that relates to Frontier Girls, please let me know so that I can follow it and repin your ideas to the main Frontier Girls boards. To visit the Frontier Girls Pinterest Boards go to :

Follow This Blog

Welcome to the Frontier Girls Blog

For first time readers of this blog, Frontier Girls is a merit badge based program for girls ages 5-17 that focuses on patriotism, traditional values, community service and a love of learning. This blog is designed to keep its readers up to date on what is happening with the organization as a whole, as well as highlights of what our troops are doing across the nation. For more information on the Frontier Girls program, visit our website at http://www.frontiergirls.com/